Not by me, I don’t need a hangman. The Sri Lankan Prisons Department has started interviewing 176 male applicants for the position of hangman. No one has been executed since 1976 and there are 480 people potentially on death row. I don’t agree with the death penalty, it’s perfect justice from an imperfect system. Other people call for it in cases of rape or child abuse, I think out of vengeance rather than a thought to its effects. Shramantha Jayamaha was recently sentenced to death for the Royal Park murders. There are others sentenced for drug trafficking.

W.G. Sampath Chandrapushpa has been readmitted to the SLFP, despite still being in jail. He and his posse were accused of a horrific rape/murder of tourists in Tangalle. Following this and other incidents the ruling party said alleged rapists and criminals would be suspended from the party. So that apparently isn’t happening, cause this psycho has been reinstated to the party, and as Chairman of the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha. For absolute shame.

One of my favorite spots in Colombo is the top of Rosmead Place, where Kynsey Road has been painted with doves and flowers in memory of the slain Neelan Thiruchelvam. Neelan worked for peace within a united Sri Lanka and he was killed in an LTTE bomb right there. Now some horrible people have tarred over the memorial. What an offense to his widow and all peace-loving Sri Lankans. She lives down the street.

In 2005, Colombo saw a gruesome ‘society’ murder when Shramantha Jayamaha killed Yvonne Jhonssen. These 19 year olds were rich, beautiful and ‘of a certain class’ so the brutal killing was a shock to everyone. After a night of club hopping, Shramantha seems to have got into an argument with Yvonne and viciously bludgeoned her head against the concrete and down the stairs, shattering her skull, The Sunday Times has a good timeline, though the analysis at the end is bunk. The news today is that the Court Of Appeal has changed Shramantha’s 12 year sentence to death. Which is pretty intense.

Sri Lanka was made well aware of disaster risks during the 2004 tsunami. There was no proper warning, even as the deadly waves wrapped around the coast, killing around 35,000 people. In more recent tsunami alerts the warning system was better, if still somewhat ad hoc and unofficial. Today at 3 o’clock, LIRNEasia researcher Nuwan Waidyanatha will discuss what a better warning system can be.

IIt’s 5 am. I’ve been up all night. We’re supposed to be. The doors and windows are open. Seeya’s body is in the living room. The candles are burning down.

My grandfather was born November 19th, 1924, in Panadura. That side of the family had gradually proceeded up the coast, from Matara generations ago. Achchi and Seeya eventually settled in Mount Lavinia. When I was young we lived there. Many people lived there, when they needed to. I grew up around a lot of Akkas and Ayyas who I later discovered weren’t really relatives at all. But they were. That’s what I remember most about my grandfather. He was a good man.

Traffic accidents in Sri Lanka are on the rise. I and Mahina Bongso are speaking just spoke with Rohan Abeywickrema on Good Morning Sri Lanka on MTV Sports. He’s from the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics. Here are some the issues he’ll highlight:

End of an era, man. You may recognize Ebert Silva from the back of buses all over the country. I think his was the one with the Thundercats lion logo. The buses are so ubiquitous that I even used Ebert Silva’s name as a character in a (very) short story. Apparently he also did a lot of tourism work, including the Colombo City Tours. It’s quite sad to hear that he’s passed away.

Christo Raymond was a dark/light, young/old and deeply conflicted man. He died yesterday, which came as a great surprise. For everyone who’s known him, he is and always was deeply, truly alive. At one point I thought he might become my father-in-law so I made some tentative effort to know the man. I never found a single clue. He was alive. Now he is dead. That is all I can say with any certainty.